Summary:Europa Universalis IV explores the world history in an experience crafted by Paradox Development Studio, the masters of Grand Strategy. The experiences of true exploration, trade, warfare and diplomacy will be brought to life in this epic title rife with rich strategic and tactical depth.

The ultimate strategic simulator of an early modern history state with wide options for both success and failure. Do you want to unite Britain under Scotland, thwart the Spanish Reconquista or maintain the Inca empire? Suit yourself. [Issue#234]

Paradox Development Studio has shown that it understands grand strategy like no other studio. Europa Universalis IV is the defining game in the genre, laying out the whole world in front of players and just letting them have at it. It's a polished, almost terrifyingly vast title that gets its hooks in you the moment you click on that first country, and simply refuses to let go.

The newest installment in the “Europa Universalis” franchise is yet another evolutionary step forward. If you liked EU1 – EU3, you will want to pick this one up. If you are interested in grand strategy and you have not played it, you should pick up a copy. If only they could fix the combat system.

How does it feel to lead a nation over a couple of centuries? As fascinating as it is frustrating. The handling is overly complicated, you can get overwhelmed by the most simple matters. But if you’re willing to invest time, you might just etch your name in history.

Europa Universalis IV is the game you graduate to when you’re tired of Civilization. That’s ultimately also why all those numbers are there, beneath the surface: because you never graduate away from Europa Universalis IV. It drops you in the deep end before you’re ready, but if you can swim back towards the shallows during those first five hours, you’ll unlock a game so rich, it’ll be helping you tell stories for years.

WOW! For about ten years Paradox Development have been a small team of nice guys working hard to give us good games and mostly failing. TheirWOW! For about ten years Paradox Development have been a small team of nice guys working hard to give us good games and mostly failing. Their games have been for the most part tedious, pretentious and ugly, with cluttered mechanisms, and hideous micromanagement. Most of the Paradox efforts suffered from terrible tutorials and ridiculous learning curved that discouraged any vaguely casual gamers. But beyond inaccessibility, the games were finally not that good, because even when you figured out the mechanisms they were still too MECHANICAL: not even really worth learning in the end because they were all variations of a sausage machine. However something miraculous happened with Crusaders Kings 2, and echoes of the good things we saw in earlier games (Hearts of Iron 2) reappeared: Better looking graphics. Simpler, yet DEEPER gameplay. The machine kept churning away but Paradox learned to save us from the worst of it, and the gameplay began to blossom. Europa Universalis IV seems to demonstrate that Paradox has really turned the corner. The game is beautiful. Gameplay is fluid. The depth and complication is welcome, but it has been softened with a more thoughtful and gaming friendly structure! GREAT WORK PARADOX! Good things take time, and your grand ambitions are finally bearing fruit. I'm very excited about where this will lead with the Hearts of Iron series, because all the design wisdom that we can see in CK2 and EU4 is leading in the absolute correct direction. If you love strategy gaming please go and buy this game and support this developer! This is a FAR, FAR superior game to Civilizations 1-5 as well as anything put out by Creative Assembly. It's been a long wait but worth it. Can't wait to see what we get when the final few pieces of the game design puzzle fall into place. If they get the budget to build something with a more solid multiplayer experience we will see the PERFECT game.…Expand

Everything about this is an improvement over EU3, the mechanics the coalition system the ways the governance benefits change etc etc etc... ifEverything about this is an improvement over EU3, the mechanics the coalition system the ways the governance benefits change etc etc etc... if you love the franchise or are a new player then get this game at all costs it will provide hours of fun with the 2 main most unique playthroughs coming from a Central European country such as Austria or (my personal favorite) Bohemia, or as Western European colonizing country such as GB France Spain. The game is addictive the AI is relentless and in the end you feel like a true conqueror for your insane worldly exploits that somehow made you come out on top with absolutely no forgiveness from the AI and hours worth of hard fought planning and scheming your way to greatness. However I wrote this reason for one reason and one reason only, f*ck you France. F*ck you so god da*n f*cking much... ALL Y'ALL KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!…Expand

Note: This is not a game for everyone. It is a game with complex economic, diplomatic and political models that are obtuse and difficult toNote: This is not a game for everyone. It is a game with complex economic, diplomatic and political models that are obtuse and difficult to grasp for your first, oh, 10 playthroughs, however, it is the apex of the series, a masterwork of UI, strategy and fun. If you love CIV and are ready for the next challenge, this is it.…Expand

Having never played an EU title previously, I can can hands down say that I am now hooked on this franchise (along with Crusader Kings). IHaving never played an EU title previously, I can can hands down say that I am now hooked on this franchise (along with Crusader Kings). I have played the Total War series of games for years and enjoyed them for the most part, but this game has opened my eyes to how detailed and in-depth a strategy game can really be. OK, you don't get the fancy battle scenes like the TW series but, you know something, I don't miss them. In fact, when I go back to TW, I miss the better strategy map and depth from EUIV than I miss the battles when playing EUIV. Now that basically says it all. Maybe it's an age thing, but you can stick all your fancy 3D graphics as far as I'm concerned - as I'd rather have this level depth and enjoyment any day of the week.

One word of warning, this can be a brutal experience for the uninitiated. Best thing to do is to start small and work your way up to a super power so you can learn the ropes, otherwise you'll just get frustrated in the early days of play. The amount of alliances and enemies you have to deal with when your one of the big guns can be overwhelming at first.

Buy this. You owe it to yourself to witness one of the finest PC games in years.…Expand

A masterpiece! One of the best strategy games I've ever played. EUIII was a very good game but full of flaws and boring mechanics. In EUIV,A masterpiece! One of the best strategy games I've ever played. EUIII was a very good game but full of flaws and boring mechanics. In EUIV, Paradox got a lot of that and corrected the way they should do it. It's not a perfect game, sure, but it got close. Correct the bugs, especially the achievements ones, and some minor problems, like England being too weak and France too powerfull, and voilá a 10 will be deserved. Right now, I am content with the 9.…Expand

Europa Universalis IV is much better than older iterations especially when it comes to how stable this game runs. What is holding me back fromEuropa Universalis IV is much better than older iterations especially when it comes to how stable this game runs. What is holding me back from giving it a 9 is that still some things are not easy or simply not transparent enough to understand so one needs to be willing to spend some time outside the game to learn the game because the in-game tutorials and help system are not helpful enough.

Overall I like the game very much and would recommend it to everyone who is willing to spend some time to learn the game. What helped me a lot was a tutorial from quill18: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGH-Sc1EfdI…Expand

Sadly, a lot of work was put into this game and I wanted hard to like it but no, it sucks. If civ5 is a little predictable, EU4 is soo random.Sadly, a lot of work was put into this game and I wanted hard to like it but no, it sucks. If civ5 is a little predictable, EU4 is soo random. EU4 is superior to civ5 as to diplomacy BUT: Constant clock watching and reading of mundane pop-ups of bad news. Very few units and buildings and 90% of that implies no visuals. Not to mention that the battles are devoid of any strategy besides terrain modifiers and adding generals and admirals (which is more of a choice than a strategy anyways). Overly hard, boring and complicated. Virtually no tutorials. Nice graphics though.﻿…Expand